Mulvaney Plans to File Own Suit Over House Subpoena Demand
Mulvaney Request to Join Subpoena Lawsuit Opposed by House
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump’s acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said he plans to file his own lawsuit seeking a judge’s guidance on whether he must comply with a House subpoena to testify at impeachment hearings.
Mulvaney withdrew a request to join a suit filed by Charles Kupperman, the former deputy of National Security Advisor John Bolton, who is seeking a ruling on whether he must testify even though he was ordered not to by the White House.
The withdrawal on Monday followed a teleconference call with U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, who’s overseeing the Kupperman lawsuit.
Earlier on Monday House lawyers had asked the judge to reject Mulvaney’s request to join the lawsuit, arguing that the case is moot because the subpoena to Kupperman underlying his case has been withdrawn.
Leon may not be convinced by that argument. In an order issued Monday, following the teleconference with lawyers, he scheduled a hearing for Nov. 12 and said the Kupperman case will proceed as planned.
“Under no circumstance will the Dec. 10 oral argument be delayed,” the judge wrote.
Kupperman also opposed Mulvaney’s request to join his lawsuit in a separate filing.
The case is Kupperman v. House of Representatives of the U.S.A., 19-cv-03224, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).
To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Van Voris in federal court in Manhattan at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider, Peter Blumberg
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